101 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn. Built in 1929-30, the Art-Deco style Long Island headquarters of the New York Telephone Company served the increasing telephone needs of a burgeoning Brooklyn. Designed by the prominent New York City architect Ralph Walker, the Landmarks Preservation Commission noted that its rich orange horizontal brick patterns, intricate metal work and series of dramatic setbacks make it an exceptional example of Art-Deco application to an office skyscraper design. Chair Robert B. Tierney noted that the current owner, Verizon New York, Inc., supported the designation and the Commission commended Verizon’s upkeep. Voting to approve its Landmark designation, Commissioner Meredith Kane voiced the importance of the designation in light of the City’s plan for the “massive regrowth of Brooklyn’s downtown.”

Review of this designation is pending before the City Planning Commission and the City Council. (read more…)

Under threat of funding loss, Landmarks gives approval for elevator in Grant’s Tomb Pavilion. The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the design for an elevator installation at Grant’s Tomb Pavilion, a City individual landmark. The National Park Service sought a certificate of appropriateness for the addition of a glass-walled elevator on the pavilion’s north side. The tomb, including the pavilion, is currently one of the few federal landmarks without restrooms or a visitor center. The elevator, part of an extensive renovation to the deteriorating landmark, was the only work that required a Landmarks hearing. The remainder of the improvements, including stone replacement and structural repair, would be approved at staff level and would not require a full hearing by Landmarks.

At Landmarks’ first hearing on the application on September 14, 2004, the Park Service told the Commissioners that their approval was required by September 26, 2004, or the federal government would redirect the federal funds for all of the pavilion’s renovation work. Members of the Historic Districts Council, Community Board 9 and other preservationists objected to the design and proposed a plan for ramp-access. All of the speakers voiced objection to the acutely tight time frame given by the Park Service for Landmarks’ consideration and stressed that the Park Service had already undergone a related one-year long ULURP process for the pavilion work. That process began in February 2003, ending with the City Council’s August 12, 2004 approval. The speakers argued that the Landmarks application could have been filed in concert with the ULURP action to allow a time frame of up to one year for Landmarks’ review. (read more…)